He warned: “The corporate sector is highly leveraged and could be very vulnerable to higher interest rates.

“Firms have used artificially low rates to borrow in the capital markets and only buy back stock in the equity market.

“The inherent instability of debt over equity financing suggests that the next downturn could hit investment spending unusually hard.”

Market volatility and likely inflation sparked by the trade war between the US and China could have an adverse effect on assets but experts said markets had been surprisingly resilient.

Mike Thompson, president at S&P’s Investment Advisory Service, said: “The eclectic and somewhat volatile style and the way this stuff comes up — we’re talking about $200 billion of a $17 trillion dollar trade, it’s more meaningful than in the past.